Bathtub stopper



June 16, 1936. R I 2,044,253

BATHTUB STOPPER Filed Nov; 20, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 I7 17W 25 i .34 .3 52 33 23- ki i1; 35 $1 4"w.y- 34 w 4@ l g H ATTORNEY June 1%, J oms 2,044,253

BATHTUB STOPPER Filed Nov. 20, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 050265 J. M02215 ATTORNEYS.

' away for the purpose Patented June 16, 1936 ETED STATS T ti:

2,044,253 BATHTUB STOPPER George J. Morris, Los Angeles, Calif. Application November 20, 1934, Serial No. 753,960

12 Claims.

adjustment of the A further ing Another object is to provide in combination with a movably supported stopper, means for preventing same from turning, and means for operatively co-ordinating movements thereof with movements of the controlling connection with which it co-acts.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully comprehend the underlying features of the invention, that they may embody the same in various modifications in structure and relation contemplated, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part of this disclosure, and in such drawings, similar reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout all of the views, of which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion of a bath tub showing the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an inner face view of a portion of the overflow end of the tub showing the form of escutcheon employed, parts being shown broken of clearness;

Figure 3 is Figure 1;

Figure 4 of Figure Figure 5 is a vertical section through a portion of the tub, showing the controlling means for the stopper;

a section taken on line 3-3 of is a horizontal section on line 44 Figure 9 is a perspective View of the stopper Figure 10 is a section through a portion of the stopper showing the part thereof which receives and co-acts with the confining element. 7

The numeral I5 illustrates a bath tub of wellknown construction, the end wall l6 of which is formed with an overflow opening I1; IS the stopper assembly at the bottom of the tub; #9 a T- coupling connected, respectively, with a waste pipe 20, an overflow pipe section 2| and The upper end of said fitting has a lateral or angular branch 25, formed with an annular flange 26 to overlap the wall It around bar 30, the same having a central boss 3| to receive ascrew 32. The screw passes through on the latter and into a cable securing sleeve 39. The sleeve 39 has a portion 40 of angular cross section which is slidable in a correspondingly formed opening 41 in said boss 38. A wire cable 42 extends through the tubing and through the securing sleeve and same is soldered at its upper end to the sleeve or at 43, the said end of the cable being housed within a manipulating knob 44 which is threadedly secured to the portion 45 of said sleeve. It follows from what has been said that the knob may be manually moved axially of the boss 38 and that the sleeve is held against turning in said boss, thus preventing the cable 42 from twisting. V

The tubing 36 is detachably coupled 'at 46 to'a similar length of tubing 41 whose'lower end passes through a boss 48 on an elbow 49. The vertical branch 56 of said elbow is p'rovided'with an an.- nular flange 51 which bears against the under side of the bottom of the tub 15 at the outlet opening 52. A hollow cylindrical valve 'guide53 has a neck 53a extending into said opening 52 and same is threaded at 54 to said branch '50 of the aforementioned elbow 49. Said guide is formed with an annular valve seat 55 against which a vertically movable valve disk 56 is adapted to engage, as shown in Figure '1. The disk 56 is provided with a depending shank 56a having a spider 51, and extending from the guide 53 and disposed against an adjacent arm of the spider is a stop pin 58, the same thus co-acting with the valve disk to hold same against rotary motion, thereby preventing the cable 42 from twisting. The cable, on leaving the tubing 35, continues through the section 41 and, as shown in Figure '7, the portion of the section contained in the elbow 49 is curved vertically upwardly at 58a to aline axially with thedisk'56, thus enabling the lower end of the cable 42 to be drawn upwardly through said portion 58a to a point where it can be readily threaded through an axial reduced passage 59 in the valve disk and disposed within an enlarged bore '60 in the disk where it is extended into the bore 61 of a'cable securing element 62. This element (Figures '1 and 9) consists of a threaded shank '63 having adjustable connection with the walls of thebore 60, and, as illustrated, said element is split linearly at 64 to provide relatively resilient1jaws'65 whose free ends are tapered at 66 to engage the tapered surface 61 within the bore '60. It thus follows that when the securing element is turned in the disk 56, as hereinprovided for, the jaws 65*will be made to securely grip the cable and thereby fixedly connect the cable with said disk.

When the invention is installed as shown herein, the knob 44 can be pulled-in an upward direction to fully close the disk 56 against its seat 55 or same can be depressed so as to impose a load 'on the cable suflicient to elevate the disk and hold it spaced apart therefrom to render the stopper assembly active for the discharge of water from thetub.

Essentially, the invention consists of the aforementioned stopperassembly; the fitting 23; elbow 49; the tubing sections 36-and'31; the escutcheon 33; and the control cable 42. These parts may be readily installed in the tub and operatively connected with stock fittings, such as the customary overflow discharge pipe 2|, the base outlet 22 and the T-coupling 19. The tubing sections 36 and 41 are formed of copper and same may be flexed as desired when installing the invention so that the respective terminals thereof can tubs, an overflow escutcheon;

be operatively related to the respective fittings 33 and 49.

I lay particular stress upon the manner in which the cable 42 connects the manipulating knob 44 with the stopper or plug 56. It will be noted that the overall length of the tubing sections 36 and 41 is less than that of the cable 42. In consequence thereof, it follows that when the securing sleeve 39 is firmly clamped to the upper end of the cable, the opposite end of the cable, when installing the invention, can be threaded through the tubing sections until said opposite end is co-axial with the valve guide 53 and disposed above the upper end of the portion 58 of tubing section 41, at which time said opposite end of the cable can be threaded through the bore 59 where it can receive the securing device 62. The device 62 can then be turned to advance the flared faces 66 thereof against the flared face 61, at which time the cable will be securely attached to said plug 56. When this is accomplished, and assuming the knob 44 to occupy the position shown in Figure 5, the plug 56 will be held tightly against its co-acting slot 55. Torsional strainsoccurring in the cable will be effectively resisted 'by the pin 50 and the angular sleeve 39, the latter co-acting with the boss 38 and the former with an adjacent limb of the aforementioned spider 51.

I wish also to stress the novel forms and 'arrangement of the parts 23 and 33 and the manner in which one of these parts co-acts with the other, whereby to enable the tubing section 36 to be correlated with the part 33 after the part 23 has been securely sealed against the tub. It follows also that after the device is installed, should it become necessary at any time to remove the cable 42, this can be done by first removing the part 33 without in any manner affecting the intended water-tight seal between the tub and the aforestated flange 26.

It will be noted in Figure '1 of the drawings that the portion 58a through which the afore mentionedcable passes is slotted at58b to enable any water that might settle in the tube to readily drain therefrom.

What is claimed is:

1. In a stopper adjusting mechanism for bath tubs, an overflow escutcheon; a vertically movable outlet stopper; a flexible cable to one end of which the stopper is secured; means in which "the cable is encased and disposed for longitudinal movement; and manually controlled means slidable in the escutcheon and to which the opposite end of the cable is secured, whereby to enable the stopper to be moved respectively in two directions when the sliding means is correspondingly moved.

2. In a stopper adjusting mechanism for bath tubs, an overflow escutcheon; a vertically movable outlet stopper; a flexible cable to one end of which the stopper is secured; means in which the cable is encased and disposed for longitudinal movement; manually controlled means slidable in the escutcheon andto which the opposite end of the cable is secured,wher'eby to enable the stopper to be moved respectively in two directions when the sliding means is correspondingly moved; and meansfor holding the sliding means against turning movement.

3. In a stopper adjusting mechanism for bath a vertically movable outlet stopper; a-flexible cable to one end of which the stopper is secured; means in which the cable is encased and disposed'for longitudinal movement; manually controlled means slidable in the escutcheon and to which the opposite end of the cable is secured, whereby to enable the stopper to be moved respectively in two directions when the sliding means is correspondingly moved; means for holding the sliding means against turning in the escutcheon; a combined guide and seat for the stopper; and means for holding the stopper against turning relatively to the seat.

4. In a device of the class described, a hollow overflow fitting having a flanged end adapted to fit against one face of a bath tub annularly of the overflow opening of the tub; means adapted to be positioned at the opposite face of the tub at the overflow opening; means for attaching the first means to said fitting to secure the flange against the tub; an escutcheon extending over said first means; and means for securing the escutcheon to said first means.

5. A stopper for bath tubs comprising a valve disk having an axial passage for the reception of an actuating cable; and cable clamping means having relatively movable jaws between which one end of a cable can be clamped; and means on the disk for moving the jaws to clamping and 'unclamping positions relatively to each other.

6. A stopper assembly for bath tubs comprising a valve guide having a valve seat; a disk movable verticaliy relatively to the seat; means for holding the disk against turning movement; means by which one be secured to said disk.

7. A valve disk having a threaded bore into which one end of an operating connection can be received, and clamping means adjustable axially of the bore for securing the disk to an operating connection.

8. As an article of manufacture, a valve disk having a threaded bore, and a passage disposed axially of the bore and communicating therewith and adapted to receive a lifting element and enable same to be extended into said bore, there being a flared surface at the juncture of the bore with said passage; and means adjustable longitudinally in said bore and provided with relatively movable jaws between which one end of a lifting element can be clamped and said jaws having flared faces engageable with said flared surface to move the jaws relatively with respect to each other during movement of the adjusting means in said bore.

9. The combination with a valve guide having an annular valve seat; a valve disk mounted to move vertically in the guide and being engageable with said seat; means for holding the disk against turning in the guide; and means on the disk for securing same to one end of an actuating element.

10. The combination, with an overflow pipe including a hollow fitting and means for securing the fitting to a bath tub exteriorly thereof and at the overflow opening in the tub; an escutcheon; and means for detachably securing the escutcheon to said first means; of a stopper assembly to which the overflow pipe is connected, to enable water to drain from the assembly to said pipe, and including a valve seat and a disk cooperable with the seat and adapted to move relatively thereto; and manually controlled means at the escutcheon for moving the disk to respectively cover and uncover said seat.

11. In an organization of the class described, a hollow fitting having means for securing same to a bath tub at the overflow opening thereof and provided with an escutcheon; a stopper assembly including a hollow fitting having means for securing same to an outlet opening in the bottom of a tub and including a valve seat and a disk movable relatively to the seat; flexible tubing having one end extended into the second fitting and having its opposite end passing through the first fitting and terminating at the escutcheon; a cable contained in the tubing and having one end secured to said disk; and means at the escutcheon to which the other end of the cable is secured and by which means the cable can be controlled to move the disk relatively to its seat. 12. In a device of the class described, a hollow fitting having a valve seat, a disk supported to move relatively to the seat; a tube having a portion extending into the fitting and terminating in a position which is co-axial with the disk, and a flexible cable movably encased in the tube and having a portion extending axially of the line of movement of the disk and secured to the latter, whereby on movement of the cable in the tube, the disk will be moved relatively to said seat.

GEORGE J. MORRIS. 

